Spokespeople for Nexperia, based in Nijmegen, Netherlands, could not be reached for comment after hours. Nexperia is owned by China's Wingtech.

The FD report said the company had been seeking an unspecified amount of funding for a battery project in Hamburg, Germany.

Earlier on Thursday the European Commission said it will allow 68 tech projects to receive state aid as part of its push to improve competitiveness in key technologies.

The Dutch government said separately this week that it is looking at whether Nexperia's plans to purchase a startup in Delft, called "Nowi" will require vetting by the country's new Investment Review Office.

Nexperia is the former Standard Products division of chipmaker NXP, spun off in 2016 and acquired by Wingtech in 2018.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Leslie Adler)